Prof. Alice Sullivan, who led a government review on sex and gender data collection, has warned the University of Bristol she is prepared to bring legal action after a trans-rights protest disrupted her invited lecture. Sullivan wrote to the university regulator, the Office for Students, alleging the university failed to protect her free-speech rights; the university says the event proceeded safely despite 'unacceptable disruption.' The dispute spotlights tensions between campus protest rights and statutory free-speech duties introduced in new higher-education legislation in England. Sullivan’s case also raises questions about how universities balance speaker safety, protest management and compliance with regulator guidance when events draw highly charged attention.